A new Marvel adventure begins, once again on television. We still have the idle that Wanda and Vision left us in their series of Disney+, but now it’s up to Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the two characters who star in a show in television format, of which we have already seen the first chapter. We are going to share our opinion with you, analyze the type of product that Disney and Marvel have prepared for us; Above all, we are going to find out what it brings us to the fans of a franchise that has spread over the years and that enjoys such a solid and cohesive argument that it delights everyone, including those who did not follow the comics of Marvel, or as it was called, “The House of Ideas”.
Falcon and the Winter Soldier is, for all of us to understand, a return to “mundane” action. A return to an argument with strong bellicose content. We all could see years ago how Captain America: Winter Soldier made the Marvel saga turn into a kind of action movie with “augmented” characters, a heroic “Mission Impossible” and great background in themes such as the patriotism, memories and skills, but mixed with fast-paced action scenes (including chases, aerial battles, and lots of visual effects). If you like this aspect of Marvel, we are in luck, friends.
But now is when, watching the episode, we realize that the television format does not “change” the action, but adapts it. The first thing we have to know is that if this is spread over 9 episodes, the story is going to be told in a less “stuffed” way than we’ve seen in Marvel movies so far. And actually, it’s great for the character development. A serious and grieving Sam Wilson and a tormented Bucky Barnes will be analyzed in scenes that run through their memories or their way of facing the new world.
And it is curious, because although many wanted to see in Thanos’ snap the warning that the world was going to change in reality, every time they talk about the “world that begins to recover” (because we continue in post-Endgame events, don’t worry, this is not a spoiler), we can’t help but think that this seems like a reflection of the new real situation. We are going to see scenes from the daily lives of the characters, with a more familiar and friendly environment. In nine episodes it will give time to know them better.
This is not incompatible with the existence of action scenes, from a Falcon air battle to some memory of Bucky as the Winter Soldier in the service of HYDRA in a nightmare. Both show a much more human attitude than in the Marvel saga, developing a personality commensurate with the situation, agitated by the “mourning” of the disappearance of Steve Rogers, who appears in the background of the story at all times (as in fact it is).
The pace does change greatly. Think that we are “stretching” the plot of an action movie in several hours, giving us the opportunity to tell many of the intermediate situations that condition the reactions of the protagonists, who will now have to face something almost as difficult as an extraterrestrial threat: their new reality, fight against what has been supposed to become legends or feared beings; a fame sometimes carried to the utmost ridicule, other times a double-edged sword.
If that we have seen how the Marvel-war environment (that of the Winter Soldier, Civil War and The Age of Ultron) is quite present, although something that all viewers will notice is the change in the dimensions of the environments. Yes, because now that we are going to visit the “daily life” of the characters of this Earth-616 (or Midgard, for the fans), it means that the rooms are going to be more closed than we used to. Yes, the most current television style takes over the series to a great extentBut without drowning out the plot or undoing Marvel’s visual spectacle.
It’s like they wanted distribute spectacular situations so that we breathe in between deep conversations, the adrenaline levels off and we regain interest through the presence of characters with different roles; some more suffering, others more heroic. 48 minutes in which there will also be visual references to the past, and some other guest from the Marvel saga (but from this same plot environment) that will ensure that we do not lose that connection with something that we have been enjoying for a couple of decades.
They lay the foundations, yes, that there will always be threats, although sometimes it is politics itself and the corrupt use of symbols of power and protection. This is not incompatible with the opportunity to see some other enemy organization; even the existence of more beings that seem to benefit from improper abilities of humans, which creates a new line of research. What we can say reliably is that although the episode puts the cards on the table, much remains to be developed, at least until we find in the series what we all hope to see, but it is a motivating feeling.
Marvel does not do things wrong, much less will you put aside the argument; for the enjoyment of the fans we can say however that at all times we feel within the Cinematic Universe, both because of the actors and because of the quality of the environment and the obvious large budget they have used, which distances it from the series that appeared on Netflix and not simply on a visual level: it is very different, much more intense, and totally connected with the characters that we all know and respect. Also, this makes us think about how fantastic any cameo could be, much more bearable than in any other production. Will we continue to enjoy the same intensity? We will see it as the weeks go by. For the moment, Falcon and the Winter Soldier is, by all accounts, unanswerable.
